A 22-year-old Greek football fan was stabbed to death by rival fans on Monday night – in the latest incident of violence in the country’s soccer league.

The fracas which left six others injured, according to Police, started ahead of the UEFA Champions League third-qualifying-round match between hosts AEK Athens and Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb.

“A serious incident took place outside the Nea Filadelfeia stadium,” Greek police said. “A young Greek man was stabbed to death and six other injured people are in hospital”, the police said, adding that they had also arrested 83 people following the clash.

The incident is a reminder of the dark side of Greek football. Hooliganism has been a problem in the country for many years, and there have been a number of high-profile incidents in recent years.

Just last year, in a bid to address the problem of hooliganism, the government increased the maximum sentence for crimes of fan violence from six months to five years after another stabbing death. Notwithstanding, the problems persist.

A fan, Alkis Kampanos, who was 19, was murdered in February 2022 in the northern city of Thessaloniki during a clash between supporters of the city’s rival clubs Aris Thessaloniki and PAOK.

In July, seven defendants were convicted of his murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, while five others received sentences of more than 19 years for their roles in the crime.